Chelsea FC Don’t Need Barcelona’s Pedro Rodriguez
Pedro Rodriguez was reported earlier this week to have agreed a move to Chelsea FC after speaking to Jose Mourinho and Cesc Fabregas, a claim he has subsequently denied. But he confirmed reports that his club Barcelona had received several offers from various clubs for his services.
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The 27-year old Spanish international had indicated his frustrations at his lack of adequate game time during the course of the just concluded season and has insisted that he would be willing to consider moving away from the club he joined in 2004.He has obviously become a victim of Barcelona’s financial muscle in recent years. The acquisition of Neymar and Suarez has ensured that he has had to face the prospect of playing a bit-part role at the club.
With the recent signing of Arda Turan, it has made his position at the club even more dicey, hence his recent decision to discuss his future with current boss Luis Enrique, who had stated earlier this week that he would like to keep the 27-year old at the club, especially with the transfer ban hanging over the club which ensures that any new signing will not be able to feature until January next year. Barcelona’s willingness to reduce his buy-out clause in the new contract he signed also indicates that the club are open to him leaving in the nearest future.
Whatever the case may be, the fact that Pedro Rodriguez would make a fine acquisition for many club sides in Europe is not in doubt. His record with Barcelona has been quite impressive, especially considering how difficult it has been for him to get regular game time at the club. Although he made 49 appearances in all tournaments last season, over half of them were as a substitute. He played just 1532 minutes in La Liga, his lowest return since he broke into the first team in 2009. Despite his limited game time, his return of 11 goals and 9 assists was quite impressive.
His problems at the club have also extended to the Spanish national team. Although he has made 51 official appearances for La Furia Roja, majority of them have come from the substitutes bench and he rarely makes the team for important tournaments. Yet his return of 16 goals indicates how important his role as an impact sub has been for the team.
Pedro’s major strengths are his pace and versatility, as he can play as a striker and in any of the attacking midfield positions. His shooting ability is also an asset: according to Squawka, he hit 65% of his shots on target in La Liga last season, even though his 19.4% chance conversion indicates he is quite wasteful in front of goal.
Over the last 3 seasons, only Messi (117) and Neymar (31) have scored more La Liga goals than Pedro’s (28). He also has bags of experience and knows what it takes to win, having been part of the recent successes of both Barcelona and Spain in recent years.
Unfortunately though, his skill sets do not warrant the 21.6 million pounds Mourinho has been rumored to be willing to bid to secure his services.
I have taken the liberty to compare Pedro with 2 of the players currently playing in the roles he would be expected to fill. I also omitted Hazard and Willian from this list as he will not likely be in direct competition with both players for game time. It is clear that except for his return on goals and assists, which is not all that surprising considering the calibre of players he has around him and Barcelona’s style of play, Pedro is not quite as good as Salah and Oscar.
In fact, in Salah, Chelsea FC already possess a player with an almost similar skill set to Pedro. And Salah’s struggles for game time was much publicized last season, especially after he managed a resurgence in form on making his loan switch to Fiorentina, so much so that he has become one of Europe’s hottest commodities in the current transfer market. Oscar may have suffered his usual mid-season slump in form, but he is clearly a better player than Pedro, as the above table indicates.
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Mourinho expects his midfielders to contribute in all phases of play, as indicated by the number of tackles executed by Oscar. Pedro, on the other hand, rarely embraces the defensive side of the game, especially considering the fact that Barcelona tend to press from the front. And even playing upfront as a striker, he doesn’t suit Mourinho’s requirements due to his relative small frame and slight physical stature.
More importantly, while Pedro has already hit his peak, being 27 years of age, both Salah (22) and Oscar (23) still have massive room for improvement. He is also a year older than Chelsea’s first choice striker, Diego Costa, and closer in age to the club’s back-up options, Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao.
Again, while Salah and Oscar have become acclimatized to the pace and physicality of the Premier League, Pedro would be new to the system and may find it a bit difficult, and may not even be given sufficient time to do same, like Kevin De Bryune and Andre Schurrle witnessed.
While many may use the transfer of Cesc Fabregas from the same club and his eventual success as a yardstick for supporting Mourinho’s reported interest, the fact that Fabregas spent the majority of his career in England makes that point pretty moot. Signing a player who will essentially be a back-up option for 21.6 million pounds doesn’t make sound financial sense in my opinion. The fact that Chelsea already possess fringe players who can offer similar input to the team only makes it even more ridiculous.
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